John Pilger warns of a new fascism (tags)
Democracy is now fictitious. There is the all-powerful business elite that has merged with the state and its claims to "identity". US admirals are paid thousands of dollars a day by Australian taxpayers for "advice". Across the West, our political imaginations have been soothed by PR and distracted from the machinations of corrupt politicians who can be had extremely cheaply.
How can we regain peace and how can we keep it? (tags)
There is no doubt that Mahatma Gandhi is right. Peace does not come from the motivation of fear, on the contrary, only from the strength of one’s own person; through loyalty to oneself, and through the courage to have one’s own conscience. In Indian: Satyagraha (persistent adherence to the truth), “think for yourself” Kant would have said, “remain yourself.”
Re-nationalizing Soviet History and Who breaks the international rules? (tags)
The construction of differentiated historical narratives that overcome one-dimensional perpetrator-victim polarizations in discourse with other affected nations and integrate one's own complicity step by step is an extremely laborious, painful process. It will probably take decades.
Is it possible to negotiate with Putin? (tags)
For Putin, the intention to admit Ukraine to NATO was a breach of "the agreement made with NATO after the fall of the Berlin Wall not to expand it" (2:34:20). As the Americans claimed hegemony according to their "Monroe Doctrine," Putin considers Ukraine his "backyard."
The psychology of the warmongerers and The war cannot be won (tags)
We should strive quite fundamentally for a different Europe and a different Russia, namely each freed from capitalist, parasitic oligarchy. The Jaurès maxim, "Capitalism carries war like the cloud carries rain," is more relevant than ever.
How the West betrayed Mikhail Gorbachev (tags)
Gorbachev wanted to transform the Soviet Union from a closed, repressive system into an open, communicative socialist system that would be part of the European family. This effort was called glasnost (openness) and was advanced through the reform movement called perestroika.
Plunder less and do more to preserve the one world (tags)
It is downright absurd that in our latitudes, half a century after "Limits to Growth" and a cascade of catastrophic ecological reports, every dip in economic growth rates is perceived as negative, even dramatic. Immediately shore up, revive, that's what politicians and the media agree on.
A possible oil and gas embargo against Russia, for example, will bring the social question to the fore and bring many people to the streets. More and more voices, it is hoped, will then rise up against war and the militarization of our lives.
The population is deeply alienated from the leadership (tags)
Russian culture is deeply individualistic. It has a very low level of trust. People can't trust each other, they can't trust their fellow human beings, and they can't trust their leaders. It's like Solzhenytsin's famous formula: trust no one, fear no one, and demand nothing from no one.
Waging war or building bridges (tags)
"NATO is de facto at war with Russia and using Ukraine as a tool to do it." And further, "Everything about NATO is hypocrisy. They declare themselves the 'peace alliance,' but their history is nothing but war.
Ukraine: No to Putin's war! No to NATO's escalation! (tags)
Nato expansion to the east: an imperialist act Putin bears full responsibility for the current Ukraine war. However, Scholz's rearmament speech is a reminder that the foundation for the escalation that is now culminating in Russian aggression was laid by NATO and the EU.
There are successful examples of non-violent, civil resistance in history. This spares human lives and, when things go well, achieves its goals at least as well as acts of war could. Ukrainian pacifists are trying to show a way out of the spiral of escalation.
"I feel like I've been transported back 80 years" (tags)
People are desperately fleeing from bombs and rockets. I feel transported back almost 80 years and become pensive. Europe had sworn to itself: Never again fascism! Never again war! The scars remain - at the age of 94, I feel them more strongly than ever.
Cuba and the Ukraine crisis (tags)
History repeats itself after all. What as the Cuban Missile Crisis left the world balancing on the precipice is exemplified by the Ukraine crisis. Starting in 1959, the USA stationed nuclear-tipped medium-range missiles in Italy and Turkey aimed at the USSR. The latter responded.
Truth dies first and then intelligence (tags)
The war in Ukraine is an exception to the rule of thumb that in war the truth dies first. The truth was already dead before the war began... War is the greatest crime imaginable. War creates endless suffering, whoever starts war is a war criminal. (Note: There is only one exception)
Capitalism as the religion of indebtedness and debt (tags)
In capitalism, the fundamental social relation is neither exchange nor production. Rather, it is debt that dominates and supersedes every other way of recognizing and valorizing the measure between people. Those who have money are creditworthy, manifesting the sign of God's grace.
The media response to Putin's conciliatory essay (tags)
On the exact 80th anniversary of the German invasion of the Soviet Union, which cost that country nearly 27 million lives, the Russian president himself published an essay in the former flagship of détente whose title already signaled a willingness to reconcile.
The Perpetrator-Victim Reversal (tags)
The West refuses to give the Red Army credit for Germany's liberation from fascism - instead, it diligently stokes the Cold War with Russia. France and West Germany were liberated by the landing of the Western Allies in Normandy - but all of Eastern Europe must have shaken off the yoke of Nazism all by itself.
Remembrance culture and the Cold War (tags)
"No to racism, anti-Semitism, the production of images of the enemy, and the slandering of history!" Russia is once again declared the enemy, but at a rapid pace now so is China. The new Cold War seems unstoppable. Enemy images are marked by a simple binary world view.
The long struggle for a post-capitalist society (tags)
The (Corona) crisis has relentlessly exposed the inability of neoliberal capitalism and its political personnel to meet the elementary needs of the people. Even if it is not felt to the same extent in Germany due to the depressing political conditions: the neoliberal offensive is in a deep existential crisis.
Antifascists demand that May 8 become a holiday in Germany (tags)
The real goal is a nationwide public holiday anyway, as demanded in the petition. The Berlin Senate could also lobby for such a gesture, that May 8 be considered the day of liberation from National Socialism.
Communist Mouthwash Hides Nature of Nations Suffering in Comm Pyramids Ploys (tags)
The Vietnamese Red Army kicked out 500,000 of its brightest children after the long brutal wars against shades. Mao was the architect of the ars in tibet, Internal gulags the administrative occupation of East Turkrstan in 1948 by the Han Red Army
The October 1917 Revolution and Lenin (tags)
Contribution to the Discussion on the Centinnial of the October 1917 BolsheviK Revolution
Afghan Women Read RAWA.org founded 1977 (tags)
RAWA is an acronym for the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan founded in 1977. They were founded to earn rights for the women in their country.
Israelis Are Today's Nazis (tags)
Israel
Free collection of articles.
anti-war
Christian Zionism: The Heresy that Undermines Middle East Peace (tags)
One of the major obstacles to peace between Palestinians and Israelis is the dogma of Christian Zionism. The current leader of Christians United for Israel (CUFI) is Rev. John Hagee of the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, TX. Followers of Hagee and CUFI are strong supporters of the military-industrial complex that profits from perpetual warfare. When any peace process between Palestine and Israel is possible, it is Hagee and his followers that are first to oppose and derail potentials for peace. The CUFI supporters reside farthest from the conflict that claims lives on both sides yet are always clamoring for more attacks on Palestinian people, knowing the bloodshed will continue in endless cycles of retaliation.
Russian Ukrainian Aid v. US/EU Neoliberal Harshness (tags)
Ukraine
Time for Azerbaijan to Cease its Occupation of Territories Belonging to Armenia (tags)
To ensure stability in the region, prevailing arbitration over occupied lands must be implemented.
Why World War II ended with Mushroom Clouds (tags)
"Truman himself, however, hypocritically declared at the time that the purpose of the two nuclear bombardments had been “to bring the boys home,” that is, to quickly finish the war without any further major loss of life on the American side. This explanation was uncritically broadcast in the American media and it developed into a myth eagerly propagated by the majority of historians and media in the USA and throughout the “Western” world. That myth, which, incidentally, also serves to justify potential future nuclear strikes on targets such as Iran and North Korea, is still very much alive - just check your mainstream newspaper on August 6 and 9!" "These conditions mean that we are back to an August 1945 scenario. However, the consequences of a U.S./Israel atomic attack on Iran will constitute the greatest crime in human history. To destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities will require the use of multiple nuclear weapons of various types delivered in diverse ways. The U.S./Israel will be guilty in real time of the very actions they claim to be defending the world from. The flow of oil from multiple regions of the world be at risk to say the least. Millions could die. World opinion might be cemented against us for a hundred years."
FILIPINOS around the world: Turn grief into revolutionary courage, (tags)
Learn from Ka Elliot, Cast away parliamentary illusions!
Germany: The Berlin Wall & Kristallnacht (tags)
Imperialist USA is making much of the 20th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Wall on November 9, 1989, the eve of the 71st anniversary of Kristallnacht, November 10, 1938, the latter being when the Nazis promoted a reign of terror against Jews, rounding up most who still remained in Nazi Germany, including this writer's grandfather, a 58 year old man in a wheelchair. Where was the US when the Nazis aided Fascist Franco in Spain in 1936 when fascism could have been stopped easily? And how does Germany compare to the backward USA today?
The Warsaw Ghetto and Gaza Strip (tags)
A comparison of the present fascist policies of the Israeli government with the past atrocities of the Nazis
Che 2 and Defiance- Movie Reviews (tags)
Two movies, Che 2 and Defiance with two different settings have two separate and different perspectives Defiance was based on World War II experience of the Byelorussian Jews fierce struggle as guerillas to survive the German pogroms. It was derived from the story of three Jewish brothers who went on separate ways- one joining the Red Army and other forming his own guerilla army. Essentially, it became a propaganda tool of Zionist groups in the face of their unpopularity during the Gaza crisis from December 27, 2008 until today. It heralded how the Jews fought the German, the common theme of all Jewish movies drawing sympathy from common people for Israel. On the other hand, Che 2 narrates the last days of Ernesto “Che” Guevara and his band as The National Guerilla Army of Bolivia and his less than 300 days struggle trying hard to build a new front against US Imperialism in South America.
A history of US intervention in Russia and Russia's resurgence
Using Georgia to Target Russia (tags)
Welcome to the new Cold War and Great Game
What Will It Take to Defeat the War? (tags)
On June 28-29, an “Open National Antiwar Conference” was held in Cleveland, called by a newly minted National Assembly to End the Iraq War and Occupation. Over objections from the conference organizers, centrally Socialist Action, the assembly voted to change the name to include reference to the war on Afghanistan, and to emphasize the connection with U.S. backing for the Zionist occupation of Palestine. (The sponsors of the confab were so right-wing that they feared losing “unity” with Democratic Party supporters of Israel and the Afghanistan war!) What did not change at all was the popular-front character of the new outfit, tying it to the bourgeois parties despite the fig leaf of electoral “independence.” Making this utterly clear, it was decided not to call a national antiwar mobilization prior to the November elections explicitly in order to court those forces who wish to aid the Democrats (and therefore want to avoid making problems for the presumptive Democratic nominee, Barack Obama). Here is the leaflet issued by the Internationalist Group at the conference.
mercenaries without borders (tags)
privatisation of armies and security are a utter defeat of freedom and democracy. Read why.
'Old Europe' Bails Out Idiot-run Free-Market US Government - Again (tags)
Right now, the entire world's banking system is being pressed to the limit of what it can do to prevent a worldwide crash of the capitalist system due to what one European banker called "a complete evaporation of liquidity" [Source: "ECB reportedly weighs dollar swap with Fed", MarketWatch.com, 13 August, 2007]. In layman's terms, that means that the world's banking system is running out of the funds needed to keep the capitalist credit system running.
Kronstadt: Trotsky was right! (tags)
New material from Soviet archives confirms the Bolsheviks' position. Kronstadt: Trotsky was right! By A Kramer
The Makhno anarchists, Kronstadt and the position of the Russian peasants (tags)
In September of 1920, Ivanov V. (representative of the Southern Front Revolutionary Soviet) visited Makhno. He later wrote this description of Makhno’s camp: “The regime is brutal, the discipline is hard as steel, rebels are beaten on the face for any small breach, no elections to the general command staff, all commanders up to company commander are appointed by Makhno and the Anarchist Revolutionary War Council, Revolutionary Military Soviet (Revvoensovet) became an irreplaceable, uncontrollable and non-elected institution. Under the revolutionary military council there is a ‘special section’ that deals with disobediences secretly and without mercy.”
Critics name their favourite books of the year 2005
Freedom according to the Stock Market (Gunter Grass) (tags)
"Our freely elected delegates are not free int heir decisions..Profit maximization is passed off as a basic value instead of the social obligation of property..Democracy perishes, not the state.."
Against Rightwing Demagogues (tags)
Migrants did not only serve Nazis as scape-goats. As the fascists declared the Jews scapegoats, their grandchildren today blame foreigners for unemployment and social cuts. We need a literacy campaign against the social demagogues of the right wing.
Anarchist Contingent
Bolivarian Project in Mortal Danger (tags)
Bolivarian Project in Mortal Danger posted by jamie from zmag 16 Jun 2004 01:09 GMT ZNet | Venezuela Bolivarian Project in Mortal Danger by Hans Dieterich; venezuelanalysis.com; June 15, 2004 The legalization of the recall referendum against President Hugo Chavez—conducted by the Venezuelan right with pre-meditated fraud and recurring acts that violate the rule of law—open the doors for a possible loss of power for the Bolivarian forces. Such a loss could occur either de facto or de jure (via the institutions).
A history of the close collaboration of fascists of different nationalities when faced with the common threat of socialism.
Kronstadt:Trotsky was right!! (tags)
New material from Soviet Archives
A history of the colloboration of German and American capitalists in World War 2 to not only profit from war, but spread fascism as well.
Bluffs soldier witness to Nazi atrocities (tags)
As a member of an Army ordnance company, John Campbell remembers Gen. George Patton's words of advice about German soldiers in World War II: "If you SOBs meet up with a German, shoot him."
The Great Myth of US Benevolence (tags)
A few thoughts about the reluctance of many Americans to accept the realities of US imperialism.
Traces of Poison - More Israel's History of Terrorism (tags)
Israel, not Iraq, holds that distinction of being the first country in the region to use weapons of mass destruction with genocidal intent. Salman Abu-Sitta digs into a dark history
Makow - The Other Sideof Holocaust Denial (tags)
Although I am the grandson of Holocaust victims, I am embarrassed by some Jewish organizations that want to make the Jewish Holocaust the defining event of World War Two. ...Jewish powerbrokers use anti Semitism to disarm opposition to their political agenda. The promotion of the Jewish Holocaust maintains the Jews' status as the world's premier "victims." This gives them immunity from criticism.
Witchhunt? The high-profile cases cited by McCarthy — Owen Lattimore, John Stewart Service, and Philip C. Jessup — all ended with the senator’s charges being validated. ...by the end of 1954, 81 of those on McCarthy’s list had either resigned from their government posts or been dismissed.
The Other Side of Holocaust Denial Freedom As Hate Crime (tags)
Although I am the grandson of Holocaust victims, I am embarrassed by some Jewish organizations that want to make the Jewish Holocaust the defining event of World War Two.
William Mandel, American Dissident (tags)
"If you think that I am going to cooperate with this collection of Judases, of men who sit there in violation of the United States Constitution, if you think I will cooperate with you in any manner whatsoever, you are insane!" From William Mandel’s 1960 testimony before HUAC
Long Live Joe Strummer! 1952-2002 (tags)
Tribute to Joe Strummer
1973: How General Ariel Sharon Brought The World To The Brink of Nuclear War (tags)
In 1973, General Ariel Sharon brought the world closer to nuclear war than it has come since the nuclear holocaust in Nagasaki, Japan. In order to stop the Soviet Red Army from intervening as Sharon commanded the massacre of The Egyptian Third Army in The Sinai, The American Nuclear Arsenal was moved to DEFCON 3.